HUFFPOST

Petula Clark’s New Songs Offer Good Advice for 2018

Kristi Wooten

Dec 8, 2017

Petula Clark’s New Songs Offer Good Advice for 2018

Petula Clark’s 1964 song, “Downtown,” burnished modern urban life into a smash hit. In 2017, she’s back at age 85 with new music and lots...

What Happens When We Let Data Decide the Best Music of 2017?

Kristi Wooten

Dec 6, 2017

What Happens When We Let Data Decide the Best Music of 2017?

For my 2017 list of the Top 50 Best Songs and Top 20 Best Albums, I let my stats on Spotify, YouTube, and Shazam–plus my vinyl...

What No One Else Will Tell You About the New U2 Album

Kristi Wooten

Dec 3, 2017

What No One Else Will Tell You About the New U2 Album

When music critics focus on confirming or denying the band’s place in music history, they miss the real story of Songs of Experience. I...

Premiere: Watch Tom Chaplin Sing The Pretenders’ Holiday Classic, “2000 Miles.”

Kristi Wooten

Nov 20, 2017

Premiere: Watch Tom Chaplin Sing The Pretenders’ Holiday Classic, “2000 Miles.”

As Thanksgiving turkeys fill the dining table and twinkling lights hang from every lamppost, Tom Chaplin’s Twelve Tales of Christmas...

Watch Dua Lipa Jump into Crowd of Atlanta Fans

Kristi Wooten

Oct 3, 2017

Watch Dua Lipa Jump into Crowd of Atlanta Fans

Summer’s over and the leaves are falling, but we’ll always have memories of the music festival season to get us through fall and winter....

Kristi Wooten

Sep 30, 2017

Neil Finn’s Quiet Masterpiece

Neil Finn’s latest solo album, Out of Silence, offers us the gift of catharsis in a season of unpredictable politics and societal...

Mike Scott on Love Affairs, Disco, and The Waterboys’ Groovy New Album

Kristi Wooten

Sep 8, 2017

Mike Scott on Love Affairs, Disco, and The Waterboys’ Groovy New Album

In July, I caught up with musician Mike Scott in the basement of an ivy-covered Georgian townhome in Dublin to talk about The Waterboys’...

Kristi Wooten

Jun 27, 2017

Is Beth Ditto the New Stevie Nicks?

Beth Ditto has always been ready for her close-up, but now the fashion-forward singer is ready for a brighter spotlight, too. After years...

Here’s How The Edge Celebrates Les Paul’s Birthday

Kristi Wooten

Jun 16, 2017

Here’s How The Edge Celebrates Les Paul’s Birthday

Guitarist Les Paul would have turned 102 this year. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee died in 2009, but his legacy lives on through...

Keane's Tom Chaplin Talks Drama, Drugs and Dreams

Kristi Wooten

Jan 15, 2017

Keane's Tom Chaplin Talks Drama, Drugs and Dreams

Releasing an album no longer guarantees success in an industry where platinum-selling singers face the same pressures as fledgling...

Why George Michael’s Music Will Always Make Us Feel Like Teenagers

Kristi Wooten

Dec 25, 2016

Why George Michael’s Music Will Always Make Us Feel Like Teenagers

George Michael was only 53 years old when he left us, but for Generation X, his music recalls the Cold War-era sounds of our youth. The...

The Top Songs of 2016: A Mixtape for a Crazy Year

Kristi Wooten

Dec 8, 2016

The Top Songs of 2016: A Mixtape for a Crazy Year

Some years are groovier than others. This year, music provided a steadying backbeat against the craziness of the political climate. We...

Johnnyswim’s New Album Makes Marriage Sound Wonderful

Kristi Wooten

Nov 4, 2016

Johnnyswim’s New Album Makes Marriage Sound Wonderful

Johnnyswim’s new album Georgica Pond makes marriage sound wonderful – just ask TV’s hottest couple, Chip and Joanna Gaines. “The album...

Kristi Wooten

Oct 16, 2016

The Night Bob Dylan Made Sense

Twenty-four years ago, a concert predicted Dylan’s future as a Nobel Laureate. Bob Dylan is officially the songwriter with the most...

What Happened When Midge Ure Drove Himself Across America

Kristi Wooten

Oct 14, 2016

What Happened When Midge Ure Drove Himself Across America

Midge Ure is music royalty. Or at least an indefatigable and decorated player who originates from the pre-digital age. He has sold...

Why We Love the Dulcimer-Playing Dad, His Raccoon and Tears for Fears

Kristi Wooten

Aug 27, 2016

Why We Love the Dulcimer-Playing Dad, His Raccoon and Tears for Fears

On Wednesday, August 24, 2016 Ted Yoder set up a dulcimer in his Goshen, Indiana backyard and turned on Facebook Live, while his wife and...

Ben Watt Made the Best Album for Your Midlife Crisis

Kristi Wooten

Jun 11, 2016

Ben Watt Made the Best Album for Your Midlife Crisis

With his new recording, Fever Dream, Ben Watt captures the pleasure and pain of a Gen-Xer caught between two fires – his youth and the...

The Monkees Kick Off Fun 50th Anniversary Tour Down South

Kristi Wooten

May 25, 2016

The Monkees Kick Off Fun 50th Anniversary Tour Down South

Five decades after their TV debut, The Monkees are on the road with a multimedia tour featuring footage from the 1966 television series....

Florence Welch Climbs the Rafters at Shaky Knees

Kristi Wooten

May 17, 2016

Florence Welch Climbs the Rafters at Shaky Knees

Florence and the Machine closed the Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park May 15 with an energetic 90-minute...

What Happened When Jimmy Carter and Bono Went to the Disco

Kristi Wooten

May 3, 2016

What Happened When Jimmy Carter and Bono Went to the Disco

Bono, Jimmy Carter and Nile Rodgers made for a surprising trio of revelers at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom last Friday night. On the...